A Home Hanukkah Celebration

Or Chanukkah, or Khanikeh, or however you’re used to spelling it! In fact, the most correct way to spell this holiday is )(Hebrew letters here. No matter how you spell it, Hanukkah is one of the most-observed holidays in the Jewish world today.

This booklet is adapted from the Kol Hadash Humanistic Jewish Congregation in Lincolnshire, Illinois, and is intended for a home celebration of Hanukkah. A fuller version of this service, with more options, is available from the Kol Hadash website at https://kolhadash.com/.

The most meaningful Jewish experiences can be those that families create for themselves – the Haggadah that’s re-written for every Passover, and the Hanukkah lights that are lit in each family’s own way. Just as every home and every Jewish family are different, so too will your Hanukkah celebration be unique. Once you feel comfortable, think about creating your own family Hanukkah traditions.

One of the most exciting aspects of cultural, Humanistic Judaism, is that we are encouraged to create new traditions in continuity with our Jewish heritage. Who knows how future generations will celebrate Hanukkah, in ways that speak to them?

adapted from Rabbi Adam Chalom
Kol Hadash Congregation

CONTENTS

Happy Hanukkah……………………………………………….2

A Quick History of Hanukkah…………………………….4

Candle Lighting Blessings…………………………………..5

Home Celebration……………………………………………..7

Hanukkah Songs………………………………………………..8

Dreidel Game……………………………………………………11

A Quick History of Hanukkah

Winter Solstice

The roots of Hanukkah may lie in the ancient past. The Jewish historian Josephus refers to a Jewish winter holiday called “Lights” when he writes about the Maccabees, and the Jews are hardly the only people to light lights as the days get shorter and colder. At the same time, Hanukkah is the only traditional Jewish holiday based upon solid historical events, which took place around the year 165 BCE (Before the Common Era.)

The Maccabees

When the local Greek king Antiochus IV imposed the Greek culture (Hellenism) on Judea, some Jews were attracted to it. Others strongly rejected Greek religious practices. A religious rebellion, led by a family called Hasmonians (today known as “Maccabees” after their famous leader Judah Maccabee (“Hammer,”) fought off the Greeks, and made an independent nation.

They held a celebration on the 25th day of the month of Kislev ( approximately mid-November to mid-December) to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “Dedication.” Their festival was eight days long because they had been unable to celebrate the eight days of the Festival of Sukkot (“Booths”) while the Temple was in Greek hands. Also because Solomon’s original dedication of the First Temple in II Kings 8 supposedly lasted for eight days. The Winter Solstice and the Maccabees are the original inspiration for celebrating Hanukkah.

The Miracle of the Oil

Several hundred years later, the legend of the oil lasting miraculously for eight days first appeared in the Talmud. There’s nothing about it in the Book of Macabees or in the history of Josephus. Evidently the Rabbis of this later time did not view the Maccabees favorably, because they eventually adopted Greek customs themselves, and because they called themselves High Priests and Kings, though not of the lineage of Aaron or King David. So the Rabbis introduced a story to sanctify (make Holy) the holiday by de-emphasizing the human agency and adding the miraculous, which was needed because the people kept celebrating it! The “Miracle of the Oil” is a late, but popular, addition to the Jewish tradition.

Today

Between then and now, Hanukkah was largely a minor holiday. A nine-light Menorah (or Hanukiah) would be lit, one candle for each of the eight days, and a shames or helper candle.) Gradually other traditions were added” the Dreidel from Germany, and Gelt, Latkes and Doughnuts. Hanukkah is more popular today in America then even under the Maccabees!

Kumt lomir aleh sh-plin,
in dreydl eyns tsvay dray!
Oy! Dreydl, dreydl, dreydl,
Oy, drezikh, dreydl, drey,
to lomir aleh sh-plin,
in dreydle eyns un tsvey.
Un ikh hob lib tsu tantsn,
zih dreyen in a rod
to lomir ale tantsn,
zikh dreydl karahod.
Oy, Dreydl, dreydl, dreydl,
Oy, drey zikh, dreydl, drey
To lomir aleh sh-plin,
in dreydl eyns un tsvey.
ENGLISH VERSION:
I HAVE A LITTLE DREIDEL
I HAVE A LITTLE DREIDEL,
I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY,
AND WHEN IT’S DRY AND READY,
OH DREIDEL I SHALL PLAY!
OH! DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY,
AND WHEN IT’S DRY AND READY,
OH DREILDE I SHALL PLAY!
IT HAS A LOVELY BODY,
WITH LEG SO SHORT AND THIN,
AND WHEN MY DREIDEL’S TIRED,
IT DROPS AND THEN I WIN!
OH! DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEEL
WITH LEG SO SHORT AND THIN,
OH! DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
IT DROPS AND THEN I WIN!

MY DREIDEL’S ALWAYS PLAYFUL,
L IT LOVES TO DANCE AND SPIN,
A HAPPY GAME OF DREIDEL,
COME, PLAY NOW, LET’S BEGIN!
OH! DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
IT LOVES TO DANCE AND SPIN,
OH! DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
COME PLAY NOW LET’S BEGIN.
TRANSLATION:
I AM A LITTLE DREIDEL, I AM MADE FROM LEAD.
COME LET’S ALL PLAY DREIDEL –
OH, DREIDEL ONE TWO THREE.
OH, DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
OH, DREIDEL, DREIDEL, SPIN.
SO LET’S ALL PLAY DREIDEL,
IN DREIDEL, ONE AND TWO.
AND I LOVE TO DANCE,
TO SPIN IN A CIRCLE.
SO LET’S ALL DANCE A DREIDEL-CIRCLE.
OH, DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL,
OH DREIDEL, DREIDEL, SPIN.
SO LET’S ALL PLAY DREIDEL,
IN DREIDEL ONE AND TW0.

The classic dreidel is a four sided spinning top made of wood, plastic, or the proverbial clay. On the four sides of the dreidel appear four letters from the Hebrew alphabet—nun (נ), gimmel (ג), hey (ה), and shin (ש). These four letters in the Rabbinic tradition are an acronym for “nes gadol hayah sham”—”a great miracle happened there.”

In Israel, the actual setting of the Chanukah miracle legend, the last letter, shin, is substituted with a pey (פ), which stands for “po”—”here.”

Game Components

Age range: Three and up (little children might require assistance with spinning the dreidel)
• 1 Dreidel (or, accelerate the pace of the game by supplying each player with his/her own dreidel)
• 2 or more players (the more the merrier!)
• The “Ante”—nuts, pennies, nickels, chocolate coins, nuts, or just about anything else…
• Flat Surface (such as floor or wide table) for dreidel spinning
• A Chanukah Festive Mood
•
Optional:
Platter of Latkes and/or Sufganiot

The Setup

1. All players sit around the playing area.
2. The “ante” is equally divided amongst all players.
3. Everyone takes a turn at spinning the dreidel; the one with the highest spin has first turn. (Nun is highest, then gimmel, hey, and shin.) If there is a tie for highest, those who tied spin again.
4. Everyone puts one unit of the ante (penny, nut, etc.) into the pot.
5. The one who has first turn is followed in clockwise direction by all the others.
6. Player A spins the dreidel while everyone waits in utter suspense (in the interest of speeding up the game, some knock down the dreidel mid-spin instead of waiting for it to come to a rest).
7. If the dreidel lands on a…

Nun – נ
You’ve just wasted your time. Absolutely nothing happens. You may as well have taken a bathroom break instead of that useless spin. Better luck next time!
Nun stands for the Yiddish word nul, which means zero, nothing, nil. After your exercise in futility it’s time now for the player to your left to take a spin.
If however your dreidel landed on a…

Gimmel – ג
Wow! Amazing! You did it! You get to take the whole pot! Take it quick and then do a little victory dance around the room. Pay no attention to the envious stares you are getting. You are an absolute dreidel pro!
Gimmel stands in Yiddish for gantz, which means whole. Everyone, including you, now puts another unit of the ante into the pot, and the person to your left tries his luck at spinning.

But, it’s hard to be so lucky every time. Sometimes your dreidel will land on a…

Hey – ה
Okay, you could have done better, but you could have done worse. You get to take half of the pot. If the pot has an odd amount of units, don’t try to split that penny, nut, or piece of chocolate in half. Leave it there. Take the high road. Let the others believe that it is beneath you to care…
Hey in Yiddish stands for halb, half. The pot has now been diminished, and it’s time for the player to your left to take a stab at riches.

But don’t complain. The dreidel could have landed on a…

Shin – ש
The absolute worst. The dregs. You now have to put another unit into the pot! You better figure out how to improve your spinning technique before you will be forced to take out a second mortgage on your home.
Shin in Yiddish is for shenk; yes, that means give. Your hope now is that the pot will still be around next time it is your turn to spin. Maybe then you’ll get a gimmel and recoup your losses…

The Endgame
The game ends when one of the following occurs:

a) The platter of latkes or sufganiot is finished.
b) One of the children becomes whiny (usually upon realizing that pretty soon he/she will have no more chocolate coins remaining).
c) Mom or Dad have some urgent business to attend to.
d) The crack of dawn has arrived.

And the real endgame is the lesson this game has taught. We are overjoyed about the stories of our Jewish ancestors. Throughout Chanukah this is constantly on our mind—even when we are involved with fun and games!